Canada's Trial Courts: Two Tiers or One? [Hardcover] Russell, Peter H.

Product Description One of the most important but least examined aspects of the Canadian judicial system is the dual structure of civil and criminal trial courts. Canada's Trial Courts examines the co-existence, in every province, of superior courts (presided over by federally appointed judges) and 'lower' courts (staffed by provincially appointed judges). Combining both political and legal analysis, this is the first book to provide an in depth study of the evolution and operation of Canada's trial courts.This collection of essays begins with an exploration of the constitutional origins of Canada's integrated court system and the failure of federal and provincial governments to cooperate in its development. Following are discussions of a number of contemporary reform projects in various jurisdictions, including Quebec, Nova Scotia, Alberta, and Nunavut, as well as examinations of competing visions of how Canada's trial courts should be organized in the future. To put the issue in a comparative perspective, the concluding section provides examples of how trial courts have been restructured in the United Kingdom and the state of California. Proposing a range of practical alternatives to the present system, the volume offers a ground-breaking legal analysis that addresses constitutional obstacles to trial court reform, and assesses the political factors that influence reform at the judicial level.Featuring distinguished contributors from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds, Canada's Trial Courts offers a comprehensive and up-to-date examination of an important but neglected issue that ultimately has a profound impact on the quality of justice that Canadians experience. From the Back Cover 'This book addresses an important but under-examined issue of institutional design within our system of government - whether Canadians are well-served by having two distinct levels of trial courts in each province. The contributors represent an impressively broad range of constituencies - court administrators, the judiciary, legal scholars, political scientists, criminologists, politicians, and government lawyers - and they bring to bear an equally impressive range of approaches - historical, empirical, sociological, political, constitutional, and comparative. Peter H. Russell has done a masterful job as editor of organizing the different contributions into a coherent and well-structured whole. He also offers his own insightful analysis of the topic in the concluding chapter.'-Robin Elliot, Faculty of Law, University of British Columbia About the Author Peter H. Russell is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto. He has written extensively on issues related to the Canadian Constitution and Canadian politics in general.